The Skeletons In The Closet

Chapter Nineteen

Jason's POV

It started with a twelve year old Percy. If I had to guess, this would be the first summer at camp for Percy. Him and Grover were sitting at a fountain in front of the MET when a girl came up to him. Her hair was carrot orange and freckles violently covered her face.

She was taunting the two and the expression on Percy's face gave me shivers. He stood, his fists clenched, and yelled. I giant fist of water grabbed the girl and threw her in the fountain. Percy blinked and turned around, puzzled. It made me think he had no idea what just happened.

Grover was shaking when a mean looking teacher showed up. "Oh no. Not her," Nico whispered, biting his nails. "Huh?" I asked. "That's my pre-algebra teacher, Mrs. Dodds. You'll see," Percy explained.

We all watched as Mrs. Dodds led Percy to the Ancient Greek section, then proceeded to transform into a fury. Leo screamed. Typical.

Chiron came out of nowhere, in wheelchair form, and threw Percy a familiar pen, which he then used to kill the fury. It was all over in a matter of seconds. "Holy schist," Leo commented. "Yeah," Percy agreed simply.

Then the scene cut to Half-Blood hill. It was dark and raining, lightning flashing here and there. I picked out four figures in the dark, one much larger than the others. "Is that...the Minotaur?" Hazel asked.

Looking closer, I could tell that it was indeed the Minotaur. And he was just as ugly as I had imagined. Looking closer, I could see Percy, Grover, and Sally Jackson. Sally was holding up an unconscious Grover and yelling at Percy.

Twelve-year-old Percy yelled an insult at the Minotaur and then dove to the side when it charged him. At this point, Sally had deposited Grover in the grass and was trying to retreat when the Minotaur turned to her.

Piper gripped my hand in anticipation of the following events. Even though we knew everyone turned out okay, it was still nerve wracking. Sally tried to dodge the Minotaur as well, but he apparently learned his lesson already. He shot out a meaty hand and grabbed Sally around the throat. Piper gasped.

"Mom!" Percy yelled. "Go!" Sally ordered, before exploding into golden dust. "Food," Grover groaned. The Minotaur turned to Percy again and charged. We all held our breath in anticipation.

Young Percy steeled himself, a look of rage settling in his eyes. It was hard to see clearly in the heavy rain, but Percy catapulted himself of the Minotaur's snout and landed on the thing's neck. We all stared at Percy, mouths agape. He simply shrugged.

Percy looked like he was on an extra violent bull ride game. He was being bucked around like crazy, but he held on. I watched in stunned silence as he grabbed the horn in his hands and pulled. "No way," I whispered.

It came off with a loud crack. Percy rolled off the beast and came up on his knees, horn in hand. He braced himself against the oncoming beast and thrust upwards. The Minotaur roared in agony before bursting into gold dust.

Percy looked about ready to collapse, but went to Grover and grabbed him under the arms, dragging him across the property line. He made it about halfway before collapsing.

"How..." I was astonished. How on Earth had Percy done that? His mother had just disappeared and he was facing the Minotaur of all monsters by himself in the dark and rain at twelve years old. Without even knowing he was a demigod.

I'm sure we all looked like fish with our mouths opening and closing. Percy just laughed at our faces before the scene jumped ahead to the Big House. We saw Percy wake up on a different day, with a startlingly young looking Annabeth next to him, feeding him ambrosia.